Coalition formed to help with release of public records

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By Matt Durr

Hillsdale.net - Hillsdale, MI

By Matt Durr

Posted Mar. 11, 2013 at 8:18 AM

By Matt Durr

Posted Mar. 11, 2013 at 8:18 AM

Hillsdale, Mich.

matt.durr@hillsdale.net

HILLSDALE - When citizens have a question about what their government officials are up to or want to know the details behind a recent decision or purchase, they can simply go to city hall, fill out a Freedom of Information Act request if necessary and get the answers they are looking for. If the information can legally be disclosed, citizens will receive the information in a timely manner.

Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case around the rest of the state, as a recent study showed Michigan ranked 44th in the nation in state integrity and received an “F” from the Center for Public Integrity.

With that in mind, the Michigan Coalition for Open Government has announced it’s formation with the intent of helping the public fight against government agencies who are unwilling to work within the laws designed to keep the public informed.

“Citizens and journalists are having greater difficulty obtaining public documents from government agencies, deterred by long delays in responses and high fees,” said MiCOG President Jane Briggs-Bunting, an author, media attorney and former Michigan State University School of Journalism director. “Most individuals and smaller news organizations don’t have the resources to mount legal challenges. MiCOG can help with that.”

The press release stated the coalition planned it’s unveiling for Monday to coincide with “The start of Sunshine Week a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. MiCOG offers journalists, citizens and others interested in open government the opportunity to get financial help for legal fights against public officials or governments that don’t comply with Michigan’s open records and open meetings laws. It’s an important new tool to keep government accountable.”

While the need for the coalition is clear, officials in Hillsdale are proud that there rarely cases in their city where the public is not allowed access to information.

“I think we’re very responsive to requests for that stuff. We have a FOIA coordinator who handles those requests,” said City Manager Linda Brown, adding the city is always in compliance with laws surrounding FOIA requests.

Obviously there are some records that cannot be disclosed to the public right away, but Brown said the city is always willing to provide requested information if they can.

“I’ve never had an issue in finding out what I was looking for because they are public records,” said Councilman Brian Watkins. “The more people that are able to understand what is going on through access to public records the better, because they can understand if they support it or not.”

The coalition is made up of former journalists from some of the state’s most respected publications including “The Detroit Free Press,” “The Oakland Press,” and members of the Associated Press.

Page 2 of 2 - “Michigan is one of only two states that did not have one of these coalitions going. We thought it was past time for Michigan to have,” said Kathy Barks Hoffman, a member of the MiCOG. “Its very important for everyday citizens to be able to find out what their government is doing.”

The short term goal for the group is to provide a way for citizens to apply for funding from a federal grant designed to do such things. The Knight Foundation Grant is a $2 million grant setup to provide financial support to those who cannot afford to fight governments over release of public records.

The grant could be used to hire an attorney or to help for the costs sometimes associated with filing public records requests.

In the long term, they want to promote an open dialogue with government officials regarding public information, along with providing workshops and seminars about filing FOIA requests.

The cost to join the coalition is $25 per person or students can join for $10. For more information, visit http://miopengov.org.